


Meow

by rumplestiltskinsbulge



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-17
Updated: 2013-07-17
Packaged: 2017-12-20 11:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/886479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rumplestiltskinsbulge/pseuds/rumplestiltskinsbulge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A FTL AU.</p><p>Rumpel accidentally turns himself into a cat, and Belle has no idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meow

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like it! As usual it can be found at http://grumplegold.tumblr.com/ as well!

Rumpelstiltskin had locked himself away in his tower. He had work to do, and he couldn’t have himself being constantly distracted by that damned girl. It really was ridiculous how easily she pulled his attention from his work. The way she moved when she cleaned, the way she hummed while she worked, or how she worried her bottom lip while she read and that small way she smiled when something happened in her books that made her happy.. Rumpelstiltskin growled and slammed his fists on the table where he had ben working on potions. Damn that woman! Not even in the room and she was distracting him.

He looked down at the table, feeling an oozing liquid on his hands. With a low curse he began to clean up the mess he’d made. How could he have been so careless? Sighing heavily as he finished cleaning, he thought perhaps a bit of tea would help calm his apparently frayed nerves. Coming down the stairs of his tower, he stopped up short at the door. Something was wrong…

****

Belle was in the great hall when the cat strode in. With greenish grey fur unlike anything she’d seen, and large, intelligent amber eyes. She had placed the tea tray down, wondering if her master would be joining her before spotting the creature. Tilting her head to the side, Belle smiled a bit. “Well hello there..” she said, coming closer to it. The cat just stared up at her. “Where did you come from?” She asked, crouching down in her lovely but worn golden gown, and reaching a hand out tentatively to pet the creature.

The cat tensed, and Belle smiled a bit warmer. “Oh come now, I’m not going to hurt you." She said, reaching to grab the cat, which easily slipped past her hands, darting off behind her. Standing, she turned to see it hoping up onto the stool by the spinning wheel. “No, no. Get down from there." She scolded, moving to collect the cat. “I can’t imagine Rumpelstiltskin would very much like a cat by his spinning wheel."

The cat evaded her grasp again, and this time moved to sit at the chair at the head of the table. It looked at her, blinking it’s eyes, and she chuckled. He looked so prim and tense sitting there, and looked at her like she should know what he was up to. “You know, I don’t think that he would like you in his chair either."

She slowly moved to the chair, hoping the cat wouldn’t run again. And it didn’t. It seemed to give into her desire to pick him up, and she gathered the darling thing into her arms. “Now come on, let’s go find him, shall we?" She asked him. “We need to figure out what to do with you." She spoke gently, carrying him out of the great hall and down the corridors towards the door to the tower. All of the while, the cat fidgeted in her arms, as if anxious for something.

“Calm down,” She told him, petting him in an attempt to soothe him. The cat ceased its squirming, but didn’t exactly relax as she hoped it might. His muscles were tightly wound, as if ready to spring into action at any moment. As they came to the door that lead up into the tall Western Tower, Belle stopped, and knocked.

****

For as much as she read, his little maid wasn’t very intuitive. He sighed as much as a cat could possibly sigh. That wasn’t fair of him. He couldn’t have expected to have turned himself into a cat, let alone expect the girl to realize that that was exactly what he’d done. She did seem to know him well enough to shoo creatures away from his wheel, he supposed that was something to be grateful for… But still, the sooner he was back to normal, the better.

As they neared the door of his tower and she knocked, he wanted to be free. Yes, now if his ever curious maid could just open the door, like he knew she so badly wanted to… “Perhaps he’s not there,” she mused aloud. He gave a low, “Meow,” that sounded far too feminine for his liking, and she looked down at him, her eyes somehow bluer with his new eyes. “I’m not allowed to go in there,” She told him.

The cat looked up at the girl, as if dumbstruck. Of all of the times to be completely obedient she chooses now? Growling a bit, as best as a cat can growl, he began to squirm in her arms until he had wriggled free. Falling to her feet, he pawed at the door, trying to see if he could open it from the outside. “Oh stop it!” She said, grabbing him again. “You’ll anger him by scratching at his furniture.” Of course it was all for not, but it seemed Belle was going to find a way to push his rules, as usual. “I suppose it wouldn’t be too terribly bad to just open the door and call up to him… I wouldn’t be technically breaking his rule not to enter the tower..” Oh that clever little thing. He would have to be more careful making rules. Though he supposed he could let this one slide, seeing as how she was doing what he wanted her to.  
As as soon as she opened the door, he scrambled from her hold again and sprinted up the curved stairway and into the tower. His feline ears picked up her small gasp and the sounds of her following him and whispering. “Come back! Don’t do up there!” He beat her up the stairs and sat there in the middle of the floor while he waited for her to join him in the room. As she did, she peered around cautiously, as if expecting him to come out from a dark corner and scold her.

He smirked inwardly at her caution. As she seemed to come to the conclusion that he wasn’t there, he let out another low meow to get her attention. When she looked over at him, he sprang up onto the table he had his potions on, and began to move among them, as though willing her to pay attention to what he was trying to say. “No! Get down from there!” She said, coming to quickly try and gather him. He evaded her grasp as he went in between the vials and potions. “Oh, you’ll break something!” She worried, chewing on her bottom lip. ‘Come on,’ he thought ‘Put the pieces together!’

But of course, he should have known that it was too much to ask. He supposed he couldn’t be upset at her, he only had himself to blame. He was the idiotic fool who had gone and spilled several of his potions. As she finally got a hold of him, he didn’t even fight her. He let her cary him from the room and down the stairs, where she closed the door quietly and began down the hall. “Well I’m not certain where he’s off to.” She said as he all but pouted in her arms. “He could be gone for some time… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything for me to take care of you until he gets back and can decide what to do with you.”  
He froze a bit. She wanted to take care of him? Did she do this often while she was at home? Just take in the stray animals she found and take care of them? He was giving a second thought to his recent thoughts of allowing her a bit of time out in the garden. He would definitely have to adopt a new, no pets rule.

****

After the fiasco in the West Tower, Belle decided to take the boy cat to places that he couldn’t break anything. Or at least places that if he did, Rumpelstiltskin wouldn’t be upset and she could easily clean up after him. So the first place she went, was the kitchen. Besides, she’d yet to eat lunch, and the poor cat was thin and looked as if he, too, could do with a bite or two to eat. Setting the cat on the small kitchen table, she moved to make them both something small.

She took a bit of the staled bread and some cheese for herself, and a small saucer of milk and some dried meat for the cat. Placing the food in front of the cat, Belle took a seat on one of the chairs at the small table.She tore off a piece of the bread and a bit of cheese, popping them into her mouth. “I should bake bread,” She said aloud. “Fresh bread. What do you think?” She asked the cat, looking over and seeing the cat simply lay its head on the table. That made Belle frown a bit. “You aren’t hungry, little cat?” She asked, watching as the dear thing simply huffed.

Belle frowned in concern. She scooted the milk closer to him, but he turned his head away. Belle’s brows drew together a bit. “You act just like Rumpelstiltskin. You don’t eat, and you’re sullen.” The cat seemed almost to take offense to that, and Belle giggled. “Oh come on, just eat a little bit?” She asked, pleadingly. “Pretty please?”

The animal seemed to mull in over, before begrudgingly taking a few small licks from the saucer before going after the dried meet halfheartedly. But at least he was eating, Belle thought. She ate as well, finishing up her small lunch before cleaning up in the kitchen. With her master gone, it seemed she had finished up her chores early. She looked to the cat on the table, and smiled. “Come on, little cat. Let’s you and I go to the library." She said, picking him up and carting him off.

****

She was treating him like a house pet. And she had called him sullen! He wasn’t sullen! He simply wasn’t up to dealing with her silly little games. Like now, for instance. Sitting on the floor of the library he’d given her not so long ago, she was trying to play with him. “Come on,” She was saying in a playful tone, higher pitched than normal as she waved a string in front of his face. Rumpelstiltskin simply sat there, staring blankly at her. Did she really think he was going to try and grab the yarn? It was foolish.

Realizing that he wasn’t going to swing at it, Belle decided to push the ball towards him. Couldn’t she find something a bit more useful to dow with the ball of yarn? Knit something, perhaps? As he didn’t move and Belle seemed to realize that he wasn’t going to play with her, she leaned back against the plush, maroon couch, and sighed. She looked… disappointed. She still had a hold on the end of the yarn and played with it, a slight frown on her lips. Why it bothered him when his little maid wasn’t happy was beyond him. What he did know was that seeing her frown didn’t sit well with him. Maybe that was why, as she started to pull the ball of yarn back in from the end, he reached out and swatted at it. She looked at him, surprise and joy on her face. Were he human, he might have sighed. Now he was going to have to play with her…

Belle pulled the yarn back a bit more, and this time Rumpelstiltskin had to move forward a bit to catch it, sinking his claws into it. This wasn’t so bad… it could even be a little.. fun. Maybe it was some strange, cat instinct, but when she pulled the ball hard, he went tearing after it, over-shooting a bit and ending up running into her, making the most beautiful giggle come from her lips. She reached down to pet him, and he had to admit that, to, felt good. It felt like the cat version of a back massage and, Gods help him, he purred. The sound rumbled from deep in his throat, and through half lidded eyes, he could see his little maid smiling, truly happy. He also noticed something else. The hem of her beautiful golden dress was tattered and dirty. It was becoming unfit for her to wear.

He should have given her something else to wear long ago, but he honestly liked seeing her in that gown. It was beautiful on her, and looked as though it had been made from his own, golden threads. Gold looked good on her. But she needed a new dress. His thoughts were cut short when she stopped petting him to wave the yarn in front of his face again. This time, instead of doing nothing, he batted at it. And before Rumpelstiltskin realized what was happening, he found himself chasing the yarn all over the library, doing flips and turns, anything to catch that damned yarn. And when he finally caught it, the sounds of his lovely little maid’s laughter filling his ears, he didn’t let it go.

 

Belle sat happily on the couch smiling at him as he victoriously gnawed on the yarn. She seemed content to let him continue showing the yarn who was the master of the Dark Castle, and took up the book on the end table by the couch. Normally, Rumpel didn’t mind to just sit and watch her read, but getting her undivided attention had proved almost intoxicating.

Jumping up on the couch and abandoning the yarn, Rumpel rubbed his head against her arm, jogging it a bit. “What is it?” Belle asked, amused. “Am I ignoring you?” She chuckled, pulling him to sit in her lap. The idea made him a bit uncomfortable, but as she began to pet him again, the smell of her, like flowers in the sun, made him snuggle happily into her lap.

As she began to read to him, a story of a young woman who left her father and sister to live with a great hairy beast, he purred some more. Part of him wondered if maybe it could stay this way. Maybe he could do this every once in a while on purpose… just become a cat and let her pet him and read to him and play with him… But what was he thinking? That couldn’t happen. So as she read, he closed his eyes and let her softly accented voice take him away. Take him somewhere that even an ugly beast got a happy ending.

When the story was over, she yawned and Rumpelstiltskin realized how late it was. She moved him from her lap, and he stretched out his muscles before she lay on the couch beside hi, pulling him to lay by her chest. He averted his eyes as best he could, but from where he was, he had quite the view of her bossom. The thought made the DarkOne blush. Or he would have, were he human again.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the lovely little maid sighed contently. “Good night, Philippe.” She said softly, falling asleep. Rumpel rose his brows as best a cat could. Did she just name him? And such a silly name at that? This wouldn’t do… He needed to find a way to get rid of this fur and be himself. But looking at her peaceful form, all he wanted to do, was sleep beside her. Placing his head next to hers, pressing his little nose against the base of her neck, he did just that.

And when he awoke, he was himself again. Tangled up with his little maid, arms around her and face buried in her hair. Realizing this, he nearly jumped out of his skin. He quickly detailed himself and stood. Just as he did, Belle came to, confused. “Rumpelstiltskin?" She asked, groggy from sleep and so adorable. “What- where were you?"

He rose his brows at her. “Perhaps the yarn could be put to better use, dearie?" He said, and she looked from him to the yarn and back in confusion. “And honestly… Philippe?" Realization hit her, and a furious blush colored her cheeks like roses. He turned and began to walk from the room, a small smirk on his face. “No pets, dearie!" He called, leaving the room to never discuss it further. Ever.


End file.
